Feancis ed meyeb



P. E. MEYER.

Gem-Coating.

No. 223,237. Patented Jan 6, 1880 Fig.1

ZVnesses. Iiwmlor.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS ED MEYER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

GEM-COATING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,237, dated January6, 1880.

Application filed October 25, 1879.

To all whom it may concern A Be it known that I, FRANCIS ED MEYER, ofthe city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Real or Imitation Precious Stones, Paste, or Compositionof Glass; and I hereby declare the following to be a full and cleardescription of the same.

The invention relates to a real or imitation gem provided with a coatingof some reflective substance, wholly or partially covering the back ofthe stone or imitation stone to increase its brilliancy; and theinvention consists in a stone so coated with areflective substance andprovided with a supplementary protective coating, substantially such ashereinafter described.

The invention consists, further, in the process of applying the coating,as hereinafter described.

The invention will be readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is a front elevation of one ofthe improved real or imitation stones or gems. Fig. -2 is a sideelevation of the same removed from its setting, so as to show thecoating on the bottom or back, which, in this case, only extendshalf-way up the back, so as not to expose the coating beyond orin frontof the setting. Fig. 3 is a similar elevation to that shown in Fig. 2,except that the back is Wholly covered with the reflecting coating.

The real or imitation stone, paste, or composition of glass piece Aiscut on its face into any suitable or approved form; but where it isareal diamond or representation of one the face will usually be cut orformed in polygonous shapes, so as to conform to the usual cutting ofreal or ordinarily-cut imitation stones. The back or rear side of thepiece A will ordinarily be formed into the shape of a cone; but this isimmaterial.

A coating of some good reflecting substance, B, will be firmly securedto the back or rear side of the piece A, either over the whole surfaceof the back, as shown in Fig. 3, or only over a part of it, as shown inFig. 2, the latter form being used where it is desirable to have thebacking concealed below the setting.

The reflecting substance B is applied to the piece A in the followingmanner: First coat all the parts of the said piece A which are to bekept free from the coating or reflectlng substance B with some mat erialwhich will readily adhere to it for the short time required to put onthe coating B, but which will readily come off im mediately thereafter.A coating of wax, or a preparation of asphaltum, or any other suitablearticle, will answer this purpose very well. This coating should extendup sharply to the line where the coating B is intended to stop. Thecoating B may then be applied in the form of nitrate of silver or anyother highlyreflecting substance, which may be fixed to the piece A on asteam-table, or by. any other suitable device, after which it is coveredwith a coating of some substance like Japan or shellac varnish, afterwhich a bronze or gilt coat is put on, which will finish the fixing ofthe part B and form a durable non-adhesive protective coating. Afterthis coating B shall have been thoroughly fixed and finished in thismanner the preliminary coating above described may easily be removed,and the part B will then present a clean, sharp .contour; and the effectof this coating will be to vastly increase the brilliancy of the gem,and, if it is an imitation, will cause it to very closely resemble areal diamond or stone, just as the color or appearance may indicate.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. A real or imitation gemprovided with an inner coating of a reflecting substance wholly orpartially covering the back thereof, a coating of varnish placed uponsaid reflective coating, and a supplementary outer coating of bronze,which unites with the varnish coating and forms a permanent non-adhesiveprotective coating, substantially as described.

2. The art or process of coating gems with a reflective substance whichconsists in first coating that portion of the exterior not designed toreceive the reflective coating with a temporary coating ofsome adhesivesubstance, then applying nitrate of silver or other highly-reflectivesubstance to the exposed surface and fixing the same by means of asteamtable or otherwise, then varnishing the re flective coat, thenapplying a bronze or gilt coat to supplement and protect the reflectivecoat, and then removing the temporary coating, substantially asdescribed.

FRANCIS ED MEYER. Witnesses:

M. RANDOLPH, P. E. BAQUE.

